Unexpected

I can hardly believe I am writing that I went for yet another evening run this week, but that is just what I did tonight. Now that we are in the height of the season at the gallery, my "lazy" mornings are mostly gone. A few days a week I should be able to sneak in a 5 miler after dropping Sam off at daycare and heading up to work, but on a day like today, when I have to be there at 9:00, I just don't have the time. And since I don't want to miss out on my time with Sam in the mornings, it means I have two choices. Get up and run before she wakes up, which I clearly didn't do today, or take advantage of the long summer days and run after she goes to bed, which may be the one plus to her going to bed so early at night.

I headed out onto the powerlines at 7:00 pm, hoping to get in my planned 7 miles on the "dump loop." I felt surprisingly good, although a bit hungry, at the start, keeping up a good pace and enjoying the nice summer evening air. As I turned off the lines into the woods once I crossed Rt. 24, I had thoughts of the few days on the AT that we hiked late into the evening. As dusk falls, the light gets flat, and the bumps and rolls of the trail seem to almost disappear. I have always been a morning exerciser, and find hiking/running in the failing light to be a bit disconcerting, although there is also something calming about the quiet of the woods in the evening. Around 5 miles into the run, the trail dumps back out on the powerline. I ran up the final rise on the trail into the light, surprised to feel a light rain falling on my face. I glanced back towards the woods, and saw a full rainbow! As I ran into the sun, I took a few extra looks back to enjoy the sight. I may not be religious per say, but when I see something like a rainbow on a summer night, I can't help but feel there is magic out there. There is something magical and spiritual to what I find and feel out on the trails, in the woods, up on the mountain tops, running through a field of ferns, listening to the birds chip, smelling the sweet smell of laurel in the air. Although I may moan and groan about "having" to do my runs in the evening or complain about not having the perfect schedule (what would that be anyway?), seeing the rainbow tonight reminded me that I am actually blessed to have the chance to take an hour-long trail run on a summer evening, to have an awesome husband willing to cook dinner and watch over the baby monitor so that I could go out and get in my miles for the day. And when I saw yet another rainbow as I ran down the final 1/2 mile road stretch, I had to admit that I am one lucky girl!